The stream of rosé wine appears to have no end as stars and regular non-famous people continue to drink their way through the festival. Late-night parties and early morning screenings mean that sleep has become a distant memory and coffee a dear friend. Yesterday after interviewing Cate Blanchett, she asked if I was here for the duration of the festival. After I said yes, she replied: “God, you must be exhausted” and I resisted the urge to weep softly while she held me. Medal please. And sleep too. Oh and some perspective!
The big film
This morning saw the first screening for Denis Villeneuve’s latest Sicario, a brutal crime film that follows the director’s string of thrillers from Incendies to Prisoners to Enemy. It went down incredibly well, with many praising the performances of Emily Blunt, as an FBI agent, and Benicio del Toro, as her world-weary colleague (there was apparently a round of applause as his name came on screen after the film ended). Peter Bradshaw gave it four stars and compared it favourably to The Silence of the Lambs. Here’s what others thought:
SICARIO: Undeniably taut, bold action-thriller filmmaking consistently undone by self-congratulatory world-weary cynicism. B- #Cannes2015
— Tim Grierson (@TimGrierson) May 19, 2015
SICARIO is the best looking film I've seen at #Cannes2015 / this year. God bless Roger Deakins.
— Nigel M. Smith (@nigelmfs) May 19, 2015
Sicario is v effective, black-hearted suspense. Silly if you think about it; best not to. Brolin, Del Toro let loose. #cannes215
— Dave Calhoun (@davecalhoun) May 19, 2015
After the film, stars Emily Blunt, Benicio del Toro and Josh Brolin, along with their director, spoke at a press conference about the film. Interestingly, the writer faced pressure to change the lead character to a man, but Villeneuve refused once he was onboard. More on this later.
The party
Last night saw one of the festival’s most star-studded parties, where Calvin Klein celebrated women in film. Each year, it’s an A-lister magnet and stars including Emily Blunt, Sienna Miller, Rachel Weisz, Isabelle Huppert and Jake Gyllenhaal were on this year’s guest list.
The event seemed especially relevant this year with a large number of high-profile films from female directors being shown and a number of forums on gender inequality in Hollywood. Rachel Weisz said it was “very sad” that the event even had to happen. “We make up 51% of planet Earth and we’re just very disproportionately represented, in terms of directors and writers – the people in charge of the storytelling. So we just need more films from women’s points of view,” she said.
The flat shoes controversy
The main topic of conversation today wasn’t about which film is a shoo-in for the Palme d’Or (Carol, still), but rather what shoes you need to wear to get into a premiere. Reports of women being denied entry to the premiere of Carol for wearing flat shoes surfaced and led to some understandable anger on the Croisette. At today’s Sicario press conference, Emily Blunt was asked about the issue. “Everyone should wear flats, to be honest. We shouldn’t wear high heels,” she said. “That’s very disappointing, just when you kind of think there are these new waves of equality.”
Amy director Asif Kapadia tweeted that his wife has also had problems when she tried to enter a screening because of her shoes but was eventually allowed in. Cannes head Thierry Frémaux claims the rumour of a ban on flat shoes is “unfounded”. More on shoegate on the way.
The Thai discovery
Previous Palme d’Or winner Apichatpong Weerasethakul made a triumphant return to the festival with his latest, the spiritual drama Cemetery of Splendour, about a group of soldiers who fall ill with a sleeping sickness. Peter Bradshaw gave it four stars and called it “sublime”. It’s received equally positive reviews from others.
The “wait, what?” film
Just when you thought you’d seen every iteration of a zombie attack movie, this happens …
The future
Tomorrow sees the first screening of Youth, the new film from Paolo Sorrentino who is hoping to follow up The Great Beauty with more acclaim. It stars Michael Caine and Harvey Keitel as two friends on holiday in the Alps. We’ll also get to see the much-talked about documentary An Open Secret, which focuses on sex abuse in the film industry and has been billed as “the film Hollywood doesn’t want you to see”.
I’m off to find Blanchett for that hug. See you tomorrow.
